Attention to detail is incredible ! Quite the craftsman . When I was in the navy our boat was refitted in a Philippine shipyard and I can see the similarities . Very talented workers with primitive tools , but always got the job done .
So sad... great craftsmen in deplorable working conditions. They have no shoes, no respirators for fumes, only particle masks, hardly any gloves... just really upsetting to look at...sigh..
They have no shoes because they're walking around the deck +pixotee2007. Everyone takes their shoes off, including us, before climbing up the ladder and onto the boat. As for protective clothing many workers refuse to wear them because it makes them look weak;. We offered them proper masks and ear protectors but they refuse to wear them. I take issue with the 'deplorable working conditions' statement. We spent a year there and I would not describe it as ;deplorable;. In fact it's a great place to work with a healthy sense of camaraderie, fun, singing, hard work and a social side to yard life I've not seen anywhere in the West. Both the workers and the boat owners have a lot of fun together. Believe me, there are places in the world far more deplorable than a Thai shipyard - I suspect that many of the consumer products you buy were made in such deplorable conditions. THAT'S what's really sad: the ignorance of the west in their mass consumption of goods manufacturered in the east to the detriment of working conditions and the environment. Easy to ignore it when you can't see it.
Sailing followtheboat, I totally agree. I ran a family business factory in Ireland manufacturing polyester resin based counter tops for years, using many similar products these guys in the video do. I supplied all my guys respirators and safety equipment all the time but couldn't get them to wear them. Even when they'd have their heads down in a tank with methylene chloride fumes all around them, I'd see them without their respirators. They maintained that most safety equipment was just too bulky and difficult to work while wearing. In the end health and safety regulations were so cumbersome and costly, they caused us to move our factory to Malaysia. I'm a helicopter pilot now, and each year new regulations continue to pile on top of us to the point where we fly less than half the hours we used to when I started flying.
